This publication is the final release from the 2012-13 Business Characteristics Survey (BCS). The BCS is conducted annually and collects detailed information relating to: use of information technology (IT); innovation and a broad range of other non-financial characteristics.

Data released in this publication, as commentary or in data cubes, includes; nature of business ownership, collaborative arrangements, franchising agreements, performance measures, barriers, government financial assistance, finance sought, innovation, business use of information technology, skills, markets and competition. Data included are additional to those outputs from the BCS released earlier this year in Summary of IT Use and Innovation in Australian Business, 2012-13 (cat. no. 8166.0) and Innovation in Australian Business, 2012-13 (cat. no. 8158.0).

CHANGES IN THIS RELEASE

The amount of web based commentary in this release has been reduced compared to previous releases, however there has been no reduction in the availability of data in the data cubes. In the past the conceptual topic definitions were provided with the web based information for each topic, they are now included in the Glossary.

STRUCTURE OF THIS RELEASE

There are two components to this release: web based information and data cubes. The data cubes contain the detailed data that underpins the tables and commentary included in the web based information. Many of the data cubes present data cross-classified by innovation status and industry by employment size.

DATA QUALITY

Care should be taken when interpreting the statistics in this release. Refer to the Quality Declaration and Explanatory Notes for detailed information on the quality of these statistics. Further information about some data items included in this release, including definitions, are included in the Glossary.

INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070.

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